The panel formed six months ago is expected Thursday to say downtown – not Central Terminal – as the best site, according to several sources close to the Buffalo Train Station Selection Committee.

The recommended site is near the current downtown station on Exchange Street, adjacent to Canalside, and should accommodate bus service, one of the committee’s goals. Close proximity to hotels, restaurants and Metro Rail and other amenities was a deciding factor, sources say.

As disappointing this decision will be for supporters (including me) of the Central Terminal, there is at least some upside. The amount of press and public conversation surrounding the train station debate has put a spotlight on the building and Broadway-Fillmore.

Whether it be neighborhood supporters or residents, people are beginning to ask the question, “Why not Broadway-Fillmore?” And though that question has been asked before, the noise over the train station can be a catalyst for further debate over what should be done to help revitalize the Central Terminal and the neighborhood. There was a lot of coming together from different parts of the community to rally for the train station at the terminal. This could be an important step in having people and groups being more unified as other big issues arise in Broadway-Fillmore.

With or without a new train station, the neighborhood will move forward. There are a lot of positives happening around Broadway-Fillmore right now. We need to keep building the momentum.

2 thoughts on “With or without a new train station, the neighborhood will move forward”

Per the Amtrak website, when going from Buffalo to Chicago, you depart the Exchange street station @ 12:45pm and you arrive in Depew @ 12:59pm

Then you depart Depew to Chicago @ 11:59pm – 11 (yes, eleven) hours later. There’s NOTHING at the Depew depot, I have been there and I’m speaking from experience.

From what I’ve read elsewhere, both of these train routes can go through the Central Terminal facility. A change in scheduling might decrease the layover time. If nothing else, those having a long layover while at the Central Terminal would likely venture out (via cab, Uber, bus, or walking) to see the neighborhood sites and downtown Buffalo which is only a few miles away.

When you have people sitting at the Depew Depot for 11 hours waiting for their Chicago connection, that doesn’t help Buffalo or its economy one bit.

Downtown has been revitalized – help out the other parts of Buffalo and here’s your chance!

Downtown is thriving – now it’s time to help the other Buffalo neighborhoods too.